I frequently post short exercise video tips from a few of my favorites sources on indenialhealth.com. I’ve often thought that it would be great if there was a way to string some of the workout videos together rather than having to stop your routine to play the next one you like.

Sarah from Diet.com mentioned on twitter recently that they have a great little application called the workout builder that lets you select a variety of videos and string them together to create a customized routine.

It is really simple to use. You can select from a variety of videos that are categorized by core, upper, lower or combo and then by the type of equipment you will be using, for example an exercise ball or dumbbells.

Once you have made your selections, you are presented with a variety of videos. You can drag the exercises you want to your playlist area and select how many reps you want to do. For a bit of extra customization you can drag and drop the videos in any order you want.

Once happy with your playlist you simply hit the save playlist button and the workout builder compiles all the videos together for you. It’s really easy to use and a fantastic workout tool.

It appears you do have to register (free to join, involves a survey) to be able to save your playlist and while I’m not a big fan of taking surveys , it didn’t take too long and the results were pretty spot on and made me chuckle a little.

Head on over to diet.com and try it out for yourself :)

By the way, you can find me on twitter as well.

You can do an amazing fat burning beginner workout lying on the ground using your own bodyweight exercises.

You don’t need to go to a fancy gym to get started. In fact, it’s better to do bodyweight exercises at home in beginner workouts because you won’t be intimidated by the folks at the gym. It’s not a fashion show at home!

This is a simple beginner workout you can do in the comfort of your own home with bodyweight exercises.

I am going through a nasty patch of heartburn at the moment. It doesn’t happen all that often but every now and then my heartburn decides to flare up and pretty much everything I usually eat aggravates it.

I should point out that heartburn is not necessarily caused by the food you eat. Some people, have an underlying health problem so you should go and see your doctor for advice and treatment, if required.

For me, onion seems to be one of my triggers so I won’t be having them in my diet for some time. Quite frankly, the discomfort of heartburn far outweighs my love for onions!

This recipe looks quite nice and is heartburn friendly. I haven’t tried this but it sounds really nice. I will make this weekend and let you know how it turns out :)

Roasted Vegetable Soup with Blue Lentils

* 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
* ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
* 3 cups pumpkin chunks
* 2 cups fennel chunks
* 2 cobs corn
* ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
* ¼ teaspoon turmeric
* 3 cups vegetable stock
* ½ teaspoon palm sugar
* ½ teaspoon celery salt
* 1 teaspoon tamarind puree
* ½ cup blue lentils
* 2 tablespoons light coconut milk
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh
* coriander

Combine the coriander and cumin seeds in a small saucepan, stir over high heat for 1 minute. Transfer to a mortar and pestle, crush finely

Preheat oven to 200 C. Line a baking tray with a large sheet of foil topped with a sheet of baking paper. Place the pumpkin, fennel, corn, paprika, turmeric and spice mix onto the paper. Wrap up to enclose the ingredients. Bake for 45 minutes or until tender.

Remove the corn niblets from the cobs. Combine in a blender with the vegetables, stock, sugar, celery salt and tamarind puree, blend until smooth.

Meanwhile, cook the lentils in boiling water for 30 minutes or until tender. Spoon into serving bowls and top with hot soup. Drizzle with the coconut milk and sprinkle with the dill and coriander.

source: http://www.heartburn.com.au/recipes-and-lifestyle.html

I must admit that when my partner pointed this recipe out I was less than impressed. The spices required for this soup seemed a little odd and when I was making it, wondered how on earth it was going to taste.

I didn’t have this the first night as I had prepared another meal but my partner did try some after getting home from work late last night and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I’ve since tried it and must agree, it is really yummy!

We are trying to eat 2 or 3 meals per week without meat so healthy soups, for us, are the perfect choice. This one in particular has an amazing aroma and is wonderful served with crusty bread.

If you try it, don’t forget to come back and share your thoughts on it!

INGREDIENTS

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 cups diced peeled sweet potatoes
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon tamari
• 1 cup chopped fresh tomato
• 1 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans (chickpea)
• 3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper

DIRECTIONS

Source: Allrecipes.com

It’s officially Winter in Australia now and I’ve been making a different batch of soup every week for the past 3 weeks or so.

There is something unbelievably soothing about curling up in front of a fire with a bowl of soup and crusty bread. The best thing about making your own soup is that it’s economical and healthy providing you stay away from adding cream and cheese to the mix.

Soup is still yummy even in the warmer months and we usually make batches throughout the year regardless of the weather.

This hearty vegetable soup recipe is the one I made this week has been a huge hit at home, I’ll certainly be making again. It’s easy to prepare and one I think you’re kids could help to make.

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried soup mix ( I went for a mix of lentils, red kidney beans, chick peas, barley,green split peas, yellow split peas, red split lentils, borlotti beans
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 zucchinis sliced
• 2 celery sticks sliced
• 125 g mushrooms sliced
• 2 carrots sliced
• 1 potato chopped
• 500 g pumpkin chopped
• 2 ltrs vegetable stock

Instructions

1. Soak soup mix in cold water for 8 hours and then strain or as per packet instructions
2. Using your soup pot, cook off onion, zucchini, celery and mushrooms in a little olive oil for 5 mins on med-low heat
3. Add carrot, potato and pumpkin
4. Pour in stock
5. Add pre-soaked soup mix
6. Partially cover with lid and simmer for 45 minutes

I took out about 3 cups when cool and blended to make the soup a little thicker. This is optional and is delicious either way.

If it isn’t all eaten within 3 days I would suggest freezing in batches.

I hope you enjoy!

P.s I apologize for the average pic, I took it earlier tonight in pretty bad light. Trust me, the soup is much, much better than this pic does it justice!

Camilla Saulsbury makes two healthy breakfast smoothies (one blueberry, one pumpkin) that sneak vegetables into the mix.

I must admit that adding pumpkin as a sweet or to smoothies is quite a new thing for me.
In Australia, we eat pumpkin more as a vegetable. It wasn’t until my partner who is from America made me a pumpkin pie that I realised it was such a versatile food! To this day, whenever we serve pumpkin pie to our Aussie friends and family they are always surprised and a little aprehensive about trying it. That changes pretty quickly though once they eat it!

The first time I cooked a roast dinner for my partner , I got that same puzzled look when I served the roast pumpkin with all the other vegetables. It is now a firm favorite and we eat it almost every night with our meal. We have family visiting from Texas next month and I don’t think they are used to eating it as part of their main meal so that should be interesting ;)

You can find the complete recipes at Camilla’s blog, www.enlightenedcooking.blogspot.com (posting for 1.24.08) A really lovely site with some beautiful recipes which I am going to try out.

If you are looking to make your own oat bars, you might like to give these a shot. The great thing about this recipe is that it’s easy to prepare and you know exactly what’s in them. One of my earlier posts runs through some of the worst commercial health bars on the market

This video shows you how to make oat bars using a few simple ingredients.. This particular recipe is vegan but you can use milk rather than the rice milk used in this recipe.